Possible prebiotic significance of polyamines in the condensation, protection, encapsulation, and biological properties of DNA

Some properties of DNA condensed with spermidine have been compared with the properties of DNA condensed with Co³⁺(NH₃)₆ to determine whether condensation of DNA with these trivalent cations protects DNA against the action of DNase I and increases transcription and encapsulation of DNA into liposomes. It was shown that DNA condensed with Co³⁺(NH₃)₆ was resistant to the action of the endonuclease DNase I such as DNA condensed with spermidine was. However, DNA condensed with Co³⁺(NH₃)₆ was significantly less active in transcription with the E. coli RNA polymerase than DNA-spermidine condensed forms. In addition, it was demonstrated that both compacted forms of DNA were more efficiently encapsulated into neutral liposomes; however, negatively, charged liposomes were scarcely formed in the presence of DNA condensed with Co³⁺(NH₃)₆. These experiments and the well documented properties of polyamines increasing the resistance to radiations and hydrolysis of nucleic acids, as well as their biological activities, such as replication, transcription, and translation, together with the low concentration of Co³⁺ in the environment, lead us to propose spermidine as a plausible prebiotic DNA condensing agent rather than Co³⁺ and the basic proteins proposed by other authors. Then, we consider the possible role and relevance of the polyamine-nucleic acids complexes in the evolution of life.